Barcelona suffered a primary residence La Liga defeat in opposition to Las Palmas in 53 years on Saturday afternoon, falling to a 2-1 score-line on the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
This was a primary loss by the hands of Las Palmas of any form since 1991, with the Catalans haunted by quite a lot of their former gamers within the opposition rank.
Chief amongst them was Sandro Ramirez, who gave the guests a shock however not undeserved lead early within the second half. Jasper Cillessen ensured that Barca’s xG of two.32 was decisively not met, with Mika Marmol additionally impressing at left-back.
Raphinha did equalise for Hansi Flick’s facet, however Fabio Silva rapidly put Las Palmas right into a lead that they finally didn’t relinquish.
How the sport unfolded
The hosts’ dominance of the ball from the beginning was to be anticipated, however Las Palmas threatened a few instances within the early phases, when Sandro’s cutback went unfulfilled and shortly afterwards as Silva and Javier Munoz each missed the ball within the field.
There was a powerful hand from Cillessen within the Las Palmas objective to disclaim Fermin Lopez within the midst of that, though the previous Barca stopper later flapped at a cross that nearly gifted Pau Cubarsi and Gavi a sight of objective. Fermin additionally fluffed his traces in an excellent second, with issues failing to completely click on. Simply shy of half an hour in, Cubarsi couldn’t stretch sufficient to attach with Raphinha’s inviting free-kick.
Even with Barcelona controlling possession, it wasn’t a backs-to-the-wall job for the island guests, as Alberto Moleiro compelled Inaki Pena into motion, albeit a comparatively routine save, and Munoz firing simply extensive with a shot throughout objective.
The very best possibilities of the primary half each went to Barcelona shortly earlier than the break, Cillessen saving low to his proper from Pedri’s edge-of-the-box drive and Raphinha turning within the rebound from an offside place, after which Raphinha clipping the highest of the bar after being performed in by Gavi and slicing again onto his most well-liked left foot.
Barca paid the worth after the restart for not taking these probabilities when Las Palmas pulled off the last word group transfer to take the lead. The ball began in their very own six-yard field, enjoying out of that tight house and up the pitch. Kirian Rodriguez performed the ultimate move to Sandro, who then drilled low previous Pena from the right-hand nook of the penalty space.
The response to falling behind was an onslaught of stress that resulted in Raphinha equalising after an hour, a second of brilliance from the Brazilian relatively than any kind of Las Palmas lapse. Having drifted centrally, he collected the ball 20 yards out and powered a strike into the underside nook.
However parity didn’t final lengthy in any respect as a result of a single sweeping move from Munoz in midfield took Barcelona’s defence out of the sport. Silva raced onto it by on objective and managed to maintain his composure to complete past the attain of Pena.
As time wore on, Cillessen made additional saves to disclaim Lamine Yamal, making his return from damage off the bench, and Raphinha, the latter a spectacular tip over the crossbar. Stoppage time appeals for a penalty following a slight nudge on Pau Victor accurately fell on deaf ears, whereas Robert Lewandowski having to verify his motion for a sq. ball performed behind him gave Alex Suarez simply sufficient to time to get again and block what threatened to be a dramatic equaliser.
Fashioned on 29 November in 1899, Barcelona have been celebrating their one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary, a century-and-a-quarter – and at some point – after Joan Gamper hosted a gathering attended by the membership’s first group of gamers that modified the historical past of soccer.
Barca’s package alternative right here was a nod to that. This season’s blue and pink halves residence shirt is already impressed by 1899, simply because it was for the centenary package in 1999, however the membership went a step additional for the anniversary sport by ditching blue shorts for white, which have been the norm till 1910.
Sadly, what ought to have been a house banker in opposition to a group struggling on the mistaken finish of the desk left a bitter style on the event.
Barcelona have vastly missed Lamine Yamal. Remarkably, they’ve received each La Liga sport this season that he has began (11) and none that he hasn’t (4).
The generational 17-year-old sprained an ankle throughout the Champions League win over Pink Star Belgrade in early November and was tellingly absent because the Catalans then took just one level from subsequent La Liga fixtures in opposition to Actual Sociedad and Celta Vigo. As an alternative, he couldn’t cease Barca sinking to a 4-2 defeat in opposition to Osasuna in September and it was the identical right here.
Yamal appeared at half-time rather than Pablo Torre, which did appear to sharpen Barcelona’s attacking output. However, after the most effective a part of a month out, it was clear he wasn’t as much as full pace and was unable to do all of it on his personal this time.
What gave the impression to be a reasonably innocuous physique verify from Sandro halfway by the primary half left Alejandro Balde in a heap on the ground. The Barcelona left-back caught his opponent’s shoulder to the throat and was visibly struggling to catch his breath, even throwing up.
Balde was carted off to get replaced by Gerard Martin, who really knocked Sandro clear off his toes when there was an analogous try to dam his path earlier than the top of the half. Welcome information later emerged throughout the interval that the participant had recovered.
